2006年VOA标准英语-VOA Reporter Escapes Eritrean Detention

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
20 December 2006

An international press watchdog Wednesday confirmed that a Voice of America journalist arrested and jailed three years ago in Eritrea following a report that contradicted the government has escaped. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

The head of Reporters Without Borders' Africa desk, Leonard Vincent, tells VOA he is certain that journalist Aklilu Solomon has fled to neighboring Ethiopia.

"I tried to re-confirm that Aklilu had escaped to Ethiopia through my usual sources, and everybody confirmed it," he said.

Aklilu was arrested in July 2003 several weeks after filing a report describing how families of Eritrean soldiers killed in the 1998 to 2000 border war with Ethiopia wailed¹ and cried when the names of the soldiers were read out publicly.

The Eritrean state-run media had reported that the families cheered and chanted when they heard the names of their relatives, proud that their relatives died in the war.

Aklilu was detained for 18 months, and then was put under house arrest.

At the time, Eritrea's information minister told the French news agency, AFP, that Aklilu was arrested and detained because he had not served the obligatory² 18 months of national service in the army, a statement VOA management had denied.

Reporters Without Borders' Vincent says Aklilu's case reflects how difficult it is for the press to operate independently in Eritrea.

"It's a consequence of the dreadful climate that has been imposed on the Eritrean society for five years now by the authorities," he said. "Aklilu has suffered a lot. He had been arrested for something really unfair. You see, this is just a consequence, the latest episode of the tragedy of this country sinking more and more into darkness."

At the end of last month, Reporters Without Borders appealed to Eritrean authorities to release at least eight state-owned media journalists the organization says were arrested November 12 and are being held in harsh conditions. The authorities say that the journalists have been released.

In September, the international media watchdog asked the government to provide evidence that three journalists being held since September 2001 are still alive following reports that they had died in detention³.

In its press freedom index, Reporters Without Borders ranks Eritrea as being the third worst country in the world for freedom of the press.

1 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

2 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。